Trip Budget Audit: Hidden Costs, Currency and Contingency
Test a trip budget for omissions and optimism.
Added October 15, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked for clarity and placeholders; not reviewed by a lawyer, accountant, clinician or other professional. How these prompts are made
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[VERIFY] is an editorial flag, not a blank to fill. Wherever the prompt shows [VERIFY], check that item against a reliable source before you use it (what [VERIFY] means).
Audit my trip budget. The budget lines and totals: [BUDGET]. Currency and exchange rate used: [CURRENCY_AND_RATE]. Costs already paid: [PAID_COSTS]. The number of travellers and days: [TRAVELLERS_AND_DAYS]. Compare my lines with a checklist of commonly missed costs (airport transfers, baggage fees, seat selection, visas or entry fees, travel insurance, tourist taxes, tips, local transport top-ups, phone data, laundry, foreign transaction fees, souvenirs, gifts, pet or house care at home, lost income). Make a table with Item, In my budget (yes or no), Estimate range I should check [VERIFY], and Note. Recalculate the total with the arithmetic and a contingency of 10 to 15 percent, and show the per-day and per-person figures. Test the budget at an exchange rate 5 percent worse than I used and show the difference. Do not state current prices. Ask me to verify each estimate on official or provider sites. Add a worked currency stress test: a 1,200 budget in destination currency at a rate of 0.85 is 1,020 in home currency; at 0.81 it is 972, a difference of 48, and a contingency of 12 percent of 1,020 is 122, which more than covers it.
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